Singer Aretha Franklin 'Retiring This Year'
— -- After winning her fair share of Grammy awards and selling millions and millions of albums worldwide, the legendary Aretha Franklin says she plans to mostly retire but will still do "some select things."
Speaking to a Detroit television station, Franklin, 74, said that while she "can't wait to get in the studio" to record a new album, "I must tell you, I am retiring this year."
She added that her new album will be out around September, produced by Stevie Wonder, with a limited tour schedule that will only include one stop per month. All the songs will be original, she said.
"This will be my last year. I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert,” she told the station. “This is it.”
The six-decade music veteran and first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said she wants to spend more time with her grandchildren.
"I feel very, very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from, and where it is now ... but I'm not going to go anywhere and just sit down and do nothing. That wouldn't be good, either," she added, leaving the door open for a limited schedule.
Franklin canceled a number of shows last year on doctor's orders, she told The Associated Press.
